Daemascus:I saw it at a preview screening yesterday, and I very much enjoyed it. Huge battle scenes, not too much bloat between bloat between them, and finaly a movie that decided it could end with out a massive sequel hook in it. A refreshingly self contained movie. GO SEE IT

Del Toro confirmed a sequel is in preproduction.

Really? I seem to remember hearing somewhere that there was no sequel planned but that he had a lot of ideas for one. Also that Del Toro wanted desperately to do a Pacific Rim/ Godzilla crossover.

Daemascus:I saw it at a preview screening yesterday, and I very much enjoyed it. Huge battle scenes, not too much bloat between bloat between them, and finaly a movie that decided it could end with out a massive sequel hook in it. A refreshingly self contained movie. GO SEE IT

Del Toro confirmed a sequel is in preproduction.

Really? I seem to remember hearing somewhere that there was no sequel planned but that he had a lot of ideas for one. Also that Del Toro wanted desperately to do a Pacific Rim/ Godzilla crossover.

omg yess! i was thinking durring that movie. what if a nova breath attack came from the ocean from the direction of japan.. and you see a large spikey shadow in the fog. :3 it would be the most.. epic.. of epic... :3 i mean no mention of japan anywhere... the probably didnt need giant robots with godzilla on defense patrol :D

Really? I seem to remember hearing somewhere that there was no sequel planned but that he had a lot of ideas for one. Also that Del Toro wanted desperately to do a Pacific Rim/ Godzilla crossover.

omg yess! i was thinking durring that movie. what if a nova breath attack came from the ocean from the direction of japan.. and you see a large spikey shadow in the fog. :3 it would be the most.. epic.. of epic... :3 i mean no mention of japan anywhere... the probably didnt need giant robots with godzilla on defense patrol :D

Movie was kinda "meh". For starters, as other critics have pointed out, they missed a better movie, i.e.: Why montage your way through the first Gaiju sightings? That sh*t would've been awesome!

The movie is overlong. Long stretches of boredom somehow managed to infiltrate a giant robot movie.

The fights were weirdly choreographed, with weird edits, dark colors that blur into each other, and odd speeds that don't make them as fun as they could've been. The use of the freight ship as a bat was awesome though.

The performances were kinda =\

And the last third of the movie was ripped off damn near verbatim from Independence Day, killing the ending drama.

Plagiarism isn't cool brahs.

Of course, leave it to Bob to defend this movie as yet another part of his campaign against Nolan.

It's kind of weird to see so many comparisons being drawn to Evangelion with Pacific Rim. I'm basically one of the biggest Eva fans ever, and the comparison never even occurred to me until someone pointed it out, I think largely because the whole "giant robots fighting aliens and they neural link with the mechs" is absolutely not what makes Eva unique or why it is remembered. Gunbuster is usually considered the go-to reference point for that story, especially with as arch of a presentation as Pacific Rim goes for. Heck, I think the movie drew way more on Big O for the robots, with piston punches, chest rockets, and a wrestling-boxing fighting style; and drew on G Gundam for the human characters, big team of broadly drawn and slightly nationalistic stereotypes who are still awesome heroes, and they pilot the mechs with a system that translates their body movements to the actions of the mechs.

omegawyrm:It's kind of weird to see so many comparisons being drawn to Evangelion with Pacific Rim. I'm basically one of the biggest Eva fans ever, and the comparison never even occurred to me until someone pointed it out, I think largely because the whole "giant robots fighting aliens and they neural link with the mechs" is absolutely not what makes Eva unique or why it is remembered. Gunbuster is usually considered the go-to reference point for that story, especially with as arch of a presentation as Pacific Rim goes for. Heck, I think the movie drew way more on Big O for the robots, with piston punches, chest rockets, and a wrestling-boxing fighting style; and drew on G Gundam for the human characters, big team of broadly drawn and slightly nationalistic stereotypes who are still awesome heroes, and they pilot the mechs with a system that translates their body movements to the actions of the mechs.

I'm assuming it's just that more people have seen Evangelion?

I agree. Eva technically aren't even mechs. I see the Jaeger drawing inspiration from Gundam and the Kaijuu actually reminds me of the Zentradi, because of the way they look and their hive mind deal.

omegawyrm:I'm assuming it's just that more people have seen Evangelion?

I haven't, at all, but it is frequently referenced by people who have and as a part of any major discourse on certain niches in popular culture (anime, mecha, annoying teenagers etc.) so it might just be the most broadly known example.

As a result of seeing Pacific Rim work, which I didn't think it would (maybe my low expectations explain why I liked this film so damn much), I intend to go on a mecha binge at some point soon and the name that keeps coming up when I look for recommendations is Evangelion.

I've never really liked giant monster movies, but I hoped this would be the one to change that. Nope. However I do think I've realized why they have such lackluster appeal to me. Watching a giant robot fight a giant monster from a distance really feels no different than watching a regular sized robot fight a regular sized monster up close, just in super slow motion. What I'm saying is the size of the creatures is irrelevant because there's no sense of scale when everything's giant. My favorite scenes in the movie were ones where we saw giants from the perspective of regular human characters.

Can I say the internet ruined this one for me? After weeks of everyone going off like this movie causes orgasms in the audience, it let me down. It was good. I regret nothing about paying for it. But I don't get why this is causing so many to go into a state of bliss. If anything there were large elements I thought anime like Godanaar or Gurren Lagaan did far better in both characterization and fight chirography. Hell, show me all the robots punching monster in the face you want and I'll probably still come off with a greater sense of fun in the climax of the Lone Ranger than I did in any of these brawls.

easily the best movie I've seen in theatres so far this year. It was fun, and had amazing special effects. The monster vs. Mech fights were amazing. Boatsword. Nothing else to say. Had more character development than most movies in this genre. Had an interesting and suspenseful ending. definitely worth watching in theatres.

Watched the movie a second time this evening, this time staying after the credits. DEAR GOD STAY AFTER THE CREDITS. The last segment of the movie plays after the cool Yager animations. If you haven't seen that section then here is your excuse to go see it again. Best action movie I've seen since last time I watched it.

Plus, mechs punching the s**t out of big ass monsters is just badass. Even Mister Torgue would approve.

Just come home from seeing this film. Wow, just woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow. I've just spent 2 hours with a huge grin on my face watching giant robots beating down alien monsters and I LOVED IT!!!

Seriously, if the showing I'd gone to hadn't been the last showing of the day I would have gone and bought another ticket and sat through it again.

It's joyfully fun in the way a big budget action movie SHOULD be. None of this po-faced, uber dark seriousness that seems to have ingrained itself into films these days. Nor did it go too far the other way and treat it's material with contempt or stupidity, or try and put a sneering face of only being able to enjoy this if you're being post-modern and ironic.

I was planning to go see The Wolverine and The World's End, but they're both on the back burner until I've seen Pacific Rim again.

I watched the movie the saturday after it came out. No shit, I couldn't even get up to get a refill because I didn't want to miss anything. This movie was the right length, it had almost everything that it needed wrapped up in the package. This movie was awesome. I generally hate everything that I watch, but this movie was something I loved. I really haven't ever gone back to see a movie again within a week in years but I'm going to see it again and this time in Imax 3d (i originally watched it 2D) hopefully this week!

ETA: I think all the Overhype about it is probably just from those of us that haven't seen what we think is a fantastic movie in a long time, who want everyone to see it so that it doesn't wind up being a repeat of Scott Pilgrim. A lot of us overhypers don't want to see a good movie not get the attention it needs to show there's actual interest in something not entirely regurgitated to be the same shit we've all seen over and over again. Which is what happened with Scott Pilgrim. (Not enough marketing, etc. so no one really went to see it and it tanked because everybody went to see the Expendables.) Especially since this movie is competing with Grown Ups 2 :C

I can understand the Scott Pilgrim incident because it was competing with the Expendables, but Pacific Rim is competing with Grown Ups 2. Pacific Rim was as enjoyable as The Avengers to me if not more so. It really shouldn't lose to Grown Ups 2. xD

General Vagueness:Also if there are ranged weapons that hurt them, why not use those the whole time instead of a giant close-up robotic exoskeleton thing?

Missing the point, entirely. But hey lets see...

What point, giant robots fighting giant monsters? Up until I saw this review I was able to push the ridiculous-looking stuff to the back of my mind because it did seem awesome and I figured Sr. del Toro would actually try to have it make sense. It looks like he did try and he succeeded in some ways....

3. Physics. They show more than once that everything from jet impacts to missiles don't do much damage to the Kaiju's actual skin, what ranged weapons the Jaegers use seem to rely on the concussive effect of their shots to disorient rather than actually kill. So rather than build a bigger more explosive/armour piercing missile just stick a few hundred tons worth of nuclear powered hydraulic force behind a giant metal fist or a titanium sword.

how? I mean, if missiles, planes, etc. don't do much, why would a big rocket-powered fist work better?

5. As for the two pilots required hook, it makes sense to me that any kind of mind-machine interface would be shockingly inefficient (moreso if developed on the fly due to need) but if you want to sign yourself up for the first trials of a piece of tech that works by blasting your cranium with low level radiation and electricity to measure synapse response and derive from that a command... then sure bro, you go right a head... get it... head?

Why even do that though? Why not just hook up sensors to their nerves, or simpler and non-invasive-er yet, just have something they move that has sensors associated with it, like that 3D mouse thing-- heck, I bet you could just use some kind of motion capture suit. With any of those, to keep them from running into the inside of the robot, they could have mechanisms like in the movie (shown in one or two of the trailers) or put them in a padded room or hang them in a harness wire-fu style or something.

The only thing wrong with Pacific Rim is that it was a 2-hour movie instead of a 4-hour movie. If this is because they ran out of CGI money, then I appreciate what budget they did have was spent well. Really well. Other than that it was giant robot godzilla movie pro wrestling genius.

I mean, okay, alright, it's Mecha vs. Kaiju - it's not supposed to be original. But still, it irks me that the hollywood blockbuster version once again gets the "brilliant ideas" credit for things that others did a billion times before. It irks me that it gets credit for ideas that Mecha Corps stole in a much more intelligent fashion, and Mecha Corps is not even a great novel!

Gundam did it before both in 1986 (I actually don't know if it came out before mecha corps because I've never heard of the book and there's no wikipedia article about it, can't imagine it has much influence on pop culture), and seeded the idea earlier in 1979. Again in 1994 they did it, much closer to Pacific Rim's style of 1:1 movement. They also did the each country has a different Gundam thing, which is used in Pacific Rim.

Pacific Rim is totally it's own thing, it's inspired by many things, but it creates a totally unique and visually interesting universe. There's tons of callbacks and shout-outs to other stuff, but to say the movie "steals" these ideas demonstrates a complete lack of logical and coherent thought that borders on the idiotic.

Pacific Rim is totally it's own thing, it's inspired by many things, but it creates a totally unique and visually interesting universe. There's tons of callbacks and shout-outs to other stuff, but to say the movie "steals" these ideas demonstrates a complete lack of logical and coherent thought that borders on the idiotic.

Whew, hold your horses there - I said nothing against the film. It may well be a brilliant action/sci-fi flick. I'm actually looking forward to seeing it when it comes across the pond. What I AM saying is that I find it odd (and even dislike) the fact that many elements seem to be received as "something completely new", which is completely opposite to what the film is even TRYING to be. It's not meant to have original elements (as far as I know, no individual plot element here is), but to be interesting as the sum of its parts. That the press does not seem to get, especially if the commentator in question is not aware of the mecha and/or kaiju genre's long history.

Pacific Rim is totally it's own thing, it's inspired by many things, but it creates a totally unique and visually interesting universe. There's tons of callbacks and shout-outs to other stuff, but to say the movie "steals" these ideas demonstrates a complete lack of logical and coherent thought that borders on the idiotic.

Whew, hold your horses there - I said nothing against the film. It may well be a brilliant action/sci-fi flick. I'm actually looking forward to seeing it when it comes across the pond. What I AM saying is that I find it odd (and even dislike) the fact that many elements seem to be received as "something completely new", which is completely opposite to what the film is even TRYING to be. It's not meant to have original elements (as far as I know, no individual plot element here is), but to be interesting as the sum of its parts. That the press does not seem to get, especially if the commentator in question is not aware of the mecha and/or kaiju genre's long history.

Your personal insult is completely pointless.

Because for most of it's audience this type of mecha/kaiju slugfest is "completely new". And Do you really think that Bob doesn't know the list of influences this film has? Really? He's done several episodes and articles taking about this very subject.

Again though, the movie is it's own thing, so don't be surprised if you see people mention how awesome and new it is. There are elements in this film that are completely original to the film itself. You criticizing the language of critics and those who've seen it, when you yourself haven't is one of the most hilariously off-base comments I've ever read.

"You are making assumptions about a movie you haven't even seen yet. Try watching it first before you judge, because it's a really great movie."

That I do get. I may have been a bit rash in my assessment of the press' reception in that the way things are brought together here is indeed something new. It is also something new in terms of what is shown to the mainstream, you are right, and that definitely merits a positive mention.

On the other hand my comment is partly a reaction to Bob's repeated invocation of "geek culture" as a thing (while I'm certainly a nerd in that I have a short attention span and am interested in literally [yes, literally] everything to a certain degree, I don't think of myself as part of some larger "nerd culture", "geek culture" or "gamer culture"). I personally think that these kinds of isolationist "we are different" statements and trying to define oneself as being part of some group, however defined, reflects a very destructive and pessimistic attitude towards society. BUT that's not really the main topic and therefore may have been misplaced as a comment here.

I agree with your point, but you might want to reconsider the way you present it. You keep putting words in my mouth (eh, on my fingers? whatever) and generally sound like you are trying very hard to turn an ostensibly on-topic discussion into a personal debate as if I insulted you personally. Look, mate, I have nothing against you, this movie, Bob (why would I even post here if I did) or anyone else for that matter, so could we please leave the schoolyard behavior out of this? Thanks.

Cyanic:Screw all the analysis and judging, you're missing the point. Its live action robots punching monsters in the face and its FUN. Learn to suspend disbelief and just enjoy yourself for once.

I did, and it sucked. The fight scenes were boring and confusing. The final showdown was the worst. A category 5 Kaiju arises out of the Rim for the first time to a huge entrance and literally disappears. They don't bring it up again and it doesn't fight anyone. When they go into the Rim it's not there anymore either. The director seems to have forgotten about the final boss. I mean that was a common theme in the movie, people forgot what they said earlier and contradicted the characters they had established. It was just all around a boring movie. I came in expecting nothing at all, I heard it was good so I just let loose and dear lord was I disappointed. It's just bad.

Aside from Moviebob's massive monster-boner (being a fan of the genre and all), this movie really IS good.The only flaws I can see are the length and the Marshall...

The movie felt painstakingly short for me, by the time it was getting near the climax, all I could think was "What? No! There's only been a handful of fights! I wanted a bit longer, one more fight please!" And my wish was granted, more or less, but that only speaks to its quality.

The downside? Every actor did their parts varying from good enough-great, except one, the Marshall. One of the Jaegar pilot's father was a character with too-few lines and he gave a superb performance, making it easy to identify with him, match him up with the great performance by Rinko Kukichi and Charlie Day and it's a great movie. But the Marshall was a character that was extremely well-written, crafted and respectable, but Idris Elba did the role so blandly I barely cared about him. The movie's fun and heart-pounding, and definitely on-par with Independence day, but that Marshall nearly killed some of the most important parts for me.

Cyanic:Screw all the analysis and judging, you're missing the point. Its live action robots punching monsters in the face and its FUN. Learn to suspend disbelief and just enjoy yourself for once.

I did, and it sucked. The fight scenes were boring and confusing. The final showdown was the worst. A category 5 Kaiju arises out of the Rim for the first time to a huge entrance and literally disappears. They don't bring it up again and it doesn't fight anyone. When they go into the Rim it's not there anymore either. The director seems to have forgotten about the final boss. I mean that was a common theme in the movie, people forgot what they said earlier and contradicted the characters they had established. It was just all around a boring movie. I came in expecting nothing at all, I heard it was good so I just let loose and dear lord was I disappointed. It's just bad.

If you don't understand a movie that tells you everything then you'll never be satisfied with anything. This was like Far Cry: Blood Dragon, something different and exiting and no bull. I also find it hard to see what was confusing about mechs fighting aliens when they look nothing alike...

Just saw this thing and sure you can watch it with out going blind ,but its just a action blockbuster that you will not remember in 2 weeks.Wich is good because in a years time you are bored and see this on netflix or whatever and go ...hmm i think i tought that thing was oki. and then rewatch it to kill a few hours.And for the ppl that loved this movie ..well good for them i say and i am sure there will be a second one.

I've never liked the Transformer movies. Sat through 45 minutes of the first one before turning it off. Saw 15 minutes of the seconds before turning that off. Haven't bothered and will never bother with the 3rd.

With that in mind, I enjoyed Pacific Rim. They were definitely just shy of a better movie but it was enjoyable enough. I only found the movie dragged in one place and right as I was about to verbalize those thoughts, the punching action kicked in.

Better acting, better character development and a little more variety to the fighting times/locations would have made this good movie several times better.

I'm not much of a movie-goer but I might go see this again in 3D since I've never watched one of those before.

Just saw it the other day, and boy is it glorious.I can see why some people might dislike it, though. It definitely stands and falls with the viewer's ability to reactivate one's inner 10-year-old. And you could literally go ahead and cross off every action movie cliché and trope on a list if you so desired.

But here's the thing: that's what summer blockbuster action movies are for, and this film delivered on all levels it needed to deliver. That's what I go to a movie theatre for. Dramas I can watch on my own TV. Giant robots punching Cthulhu in the face, not so much without losing out on the experience.

More people have *only* seen evangelion. I'd liken it to just about any giant mech thing ever. Do these machines look biological in the slightest? But once one guy made the comparison once everyone else then said "yeah!", because you know, internet. It'd be a better place if nobody spoke up on stuff they never touched, but what are you gonna do?

Metalrocks:sounds good and i sure are interested, but for some odd reason my cinema, who usually plays 2D and 3D version of the same movie,only has it in 3D. not really fond of 3D and it costs too much. looks like i have to wait till its out on dvd so i can watch it in normal 2D version.

While i agree w/ you 100% on the 3D thing, if 3D is your only option you really should go see it. It is absolutely a theatre movie worth the extra few bucks and the mild annoyance of the 3D for the sheer unrivaled spectacle of it. Unless of course you have a 100" quadHD tv to watch it on, then feel free to disregard the previous ;)